Friday, May 10, 2013

Quinoa and Chickpea Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

Lately I seem to be a little obsessed with quinoa. I know it's trendy
now but I wasn't such a fan the first time I tried it a couple of years
ago. Somehow it grew on me, though, and now I'm constantly thinking up
new ways to prepare it. I'll be considering making a salad or a pilaf
or some other traditional dish and I'll think to myself - hey, why don't
I put some quinoa in there? Oh, well. Considering how healthy quinoa
is, I'm far better off with it than, say, my cheesecake obsession.

Last week I made a batch of tahini sauce, one of my absolute most
favorite savory foods. I like it with lots of lemon and garlic and,
ideally, I would just have a big bowl of it and lots of pita bread to
scoop it up. Hmm...not such a good idea, maybe? I also love dipping
cucumber slices into it which is healthier but hardly a meal. So I
decided to add some chickpeas to the cucumbers and tahini and it tasted
really good. And then my quinoa obsessed brain thought - I wonder if
quinoa would taste good with this? Why, yes, yes it does!

Since the chickpeas and tahini are middle eastern flavors, I added some
cilantro. Yes, we think of it as a Mexican herb but it's actually quite
common in middle eastern cuisine as well. But parsley or even chives
would be fine as well. Brian would probably see this as a fine lunch
salad but, when I'm on my own for dinner, a big bowl of this suits me
just fine. Enjoy!

Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a bowl and
whisking until thoroughly combined. Cook the quinoa and allow to cool
slightly before adding the chickpeas, cucumber, cilantro and dressing.
Serve at room temperature. Makes 2 servings.

14 comments:

I was on such a quinoa kick a while ago, I had to take a time out from it. Luckily, my time out has ended and I just bought a big bag of red quinoa. These flavors are lovely! I can see this becoming a favorite in our house!

I'm with you!! I have an admitted love affair with quinoa... I can't get enough!! And you made your own tahini??! I'm totally impressed. This salad has my name all over it. Love the bright lemon and the chickpeas. I see this as a lunch in my future.

My girlfriend eats quiona every day for lunch like oatmeal...so I think this delectable salad is fair game for 3 meals a day. Unless you're my husband...I think you could guess his view :/ Just more for me.

mmmm this looks great! I can't wait to try it. As for the cheesecake obsession, I can relate. I recently have made this recipe for Cheesecake which I felt much better about eating and all of the cheesecake lovers in our family LOVED it: http://www.manifestvegan.com/2009/11/pretty-darn-raw-vegan-cheesecake-with-blackberry-topping/

Hi Laura - If what you have is a pre-made tahini dressing, you can use it as it is although you might want to spruce it up with a touch of lemon. On the other hand, if what you have is unprepared sesame paste, then go ahead and make the tahini sauce using my recipe. I hope that helps.

Very nice and elegant combination :)And I sadly want to inform you that your photo is being abused by a company (http://vegan-kitchen.co.uk/vegan-kitchen-chickpea-quinoa-salad/)They even put their copyright on it :(